The influence of populism on mainstream party policy

This thesis uses a political accountability model to study the influence of populism on mainstream party policy. Politicians have an incentive to select a popular policy instead of the optimal policy, when voters are uninformed. This incentive increases when the challenger is a populist instead of a mainstream politician. Populist challengers do on the other hand have a disciplining effect on non-congruent (biased) incumbents. Less talented politicians are less likely to be informed, when the costs of getting information depend on the quality of the politician. An uninformed congruent incumbent will select the popular policy. A populist challenger increases the group of uninformed politicians and therefore reduces the quality of policy. Pandering to the electorate decreases when voters become informed.